Wagon-box clamp.



' Jawwm'zwj W. G. HARP & J. W. KBENEY, WAGON BOX CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED 001.7, 1909.

989,906, Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

j' %ZZZZJM ZM% pnrrnn STATES PATENT orr rcn.

WILLIAM C. HARP AND JAMES W. KEENEY, 0F MILLINVILLE, KANSAS.

WAGON-BOX CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 7, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM C. HARP and JAMES W. KEENEY, citizens of the United States, residing at Millinville, in the county of Kiowa, State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Wagon-Box Clamp, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to wagon box clamps and has for an object to provide a device of this character which will secure a wagon box to the wagon bolster and also securely clamp two or more side boards to the box.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which can quickly be adjusted to operative position, and which will require none of the nuts, bolts, clamps or similar adjusting means so common in the usual forms of the wagon box clamps.

With the above and other objects in View which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood our invention comprises the novel details of construction and combination of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, described in the following specification and set forth in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a portion of a wagon-box composed of two separate side boards clamped together by a wagon-box clamp constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a wagon-box composed of three separate side boards clamped together by the improved wagon-box clamp. Fig. 3 is a section on the line A-B Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow-heads.

In a more detailed description of our invention wherein like characters of reference designate similar parts in the views shown, 5 designates the bolster of a wagon, 6 the bottom of the wagon, 7 the wagon body, and 8 and 9 side boards of variable width and occasional use, supported upon the wagon body.

The wagon-box fastener comprises two rods or bars 10 and 11, the upper rod 10 being terminally provided with a hook 12 which is adapted to pass over the upper edge of the upper side board and the lower rod 11 being provided with a terminal hook 13 to engage under the wagon bolster. The end of the lower rod 11 opposite its hooked portion is threaded and carries a nut 14 that limits the upward movement of the clamping member 15 and prevents accidental separation of parts. The clamping member 15 is substantially rectangular in outline and cross section and is provided at one end with a transverse opening that loosely engages the shank of the lower rod 11 and permits of a slight rocking movement of the clamping member thereon. As is evident when the clamping member is extending at right angles .to the shank of the rod 11 it is freely movable in the direction of the length of the rod, but when the clamping member is canted to extend in an oblique position to the rod 11 it will bind and be held in this position. The lower end of the upper member 10 terminates in a bifurcated end 15 whose branches 16 are spaced apart so as to straddle the clamping member and form guards to hold the same from contact with the adjacent portion of the side boards in order to prevent the clamping member from being jarred loose from its locked position. The branches 16 terminate in eyes 17 the purpose of which is to pivotally receive the operating lever 18. The eyes stand parallel with each other and their axes in alinement in a plane parallel with the length of the hook 12 whereby said operating lever is caused to stand alongside the side boards of the wagon rather than at right angles thereto where it might be struck by extraneous objects. The operating lever 18 is pivotally connected to the eyes 17 at 19 and is pivotally connected at its outer extremity to the free end of the clamping member 15 by the bolt 21 or in any other suitable manner. The opposite end of the operating lever terminates in a bent portion 20 adapted to impinge against the rod 11 or be used as a convenient grip for the hand of the operator.

Referring now to Fig. 1 it may be seen that when the lower hook 13 is engaged on,

the under side of the wagon bolster the clamping member 15 may be freely slid upward on the shank of the lower rod 11 until the hook 12 carried by the upper rod 10 is in the desired position for engagement with the upper edge of the uppermost board 9, no matter what the number or width of the boards 8 and 9 within the limits of the device, and hence the hooks 12 and 13 at its extremities are quickly engaged in their respective positions without necessitating the use or manipulation of any nuts, bolts, or the like usually employed in devices of this character. The operating lever 18 is next borne downward, by which movement the hook 12 is drawn downward to tightly clamp the upper edge of the board 9 and the clamping member is rocked to an oblique position to the shank of the lower rod 11 and binds in this position whereby to prevent any further movement of the parts. The end 20 of the operating lever will strike the rod 11 as in Fig. 2 and hold the parts in this locked position until raised by the operator, It is thus seen that an adjustment of the device may be effected to fit any type of sectional wagon-body without the use of nuts, bolts, clamps, or similar adjusting means and that when the device is in operative position the side boards are securely held from jumping up and down and the noise, wear and tear incident thereto entirely obviated.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it is thought that the construction and operation of our invention may be readily understood without a more extended explanation, changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be made withit being understood that various out sacrificing any of the advantages or cleparting from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is: A wagon-box clamp comprising two rods having hooks at their outer ends and lapping each other between them, a bifurcation at the inner end of the upper rod having eyes in the extremities of its branches whose axes are in line with the hook on this rod, a nut on the inner end of the lower rod, a lever pivoted in said eyes and standing between the branches of the bifurcation, its lower end being bent and adapted to engage the lower rod when the lever is under strain, and a clamping member pivoted to the upper end of the lever and passing between said branches and having a transverse hole in its inner end loosely receiving the lower rod and adapted to bind thereon when this member is canted.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

' WVILLIAM O. HARP.

JAMES W. KEENEY. Witnesses J. D. IIARP, R. C. REED.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents- Washing'ton, D. 0. 

